Tears For The Dragon Ch. 01

Any further questions on his part were stilled as they came back out into the main chamber. Only now it was a chamber transformed into a bright and comfortable living space. Instead of the bare stone walls he'd seen before, there were richly colored tapestries hanging on every vertical surface. There were a few human-sized chairs and lounges scattered here and there, with plush rugs in front of them. Two huge bookcases stretched along the 'partition' walls, and the sight of those bookcases made Tibor's heart leap in a long-forgotten pang of academic lust.

"Where was all of this before?" he murmured.

"Hidden," replied Emsari in a smug tone. Now that she was out of the tunnel, she stood up and extended her wings with a snap. Before Tibor could blink, she launched herself from the steps and up into the air of the vast room. He stiffened a little in fright, only to feel Emsari's arms grip him more tightly in an unspoken message of 'don't worry'.

They soared right over the partitioning walls into the dragon's bedchamber. Tibor steeled himself, expecting to view Vilmos' violated corpse. But there was nothing there, not even a stain on the floor or any discarded clothing. Had she...eaten the mercenary?

Before he could work up the nerve to ask, she kept flying towards the solid granite wall at the rear of the bedchamber. "Um..." was all he could get out before she sped straight through the apparently solid rock and into the space beyond. This new space was at least twice the size of the previous one.

They were over a ledge of rock perhaps ten yards wide. The ceiling overhead was natural stone, and even had a few stalactites hanging down here and there. Beside the ledge was a large underground lake. The lake's water so clear that Tibor could see the bottom far below. The space was lit with First Empire sconces, the same as the living area behind them.

Emsari gracefully alit at the midpoint of the ledge, then carefully set Tibor down on the stone. "You stay right here," she said. He nodded dazedly as she padded off towards the lake. He had a brief moment of sitting there in complete confusion before she returned holding a basin full of water and a few cloths. She set the basin down and then squatted behind him. Her hands pulled him closer, close enough that he could feel the body heat from her.

Tibor licked his dry lips and spoke. "I really must apologize again for..." he trailed off as he felt a damp cloth swab his head. She dunked the cloth in the basin next to her and wrung it out. He could now see blood in the basin's water and felt another little pang of nausea. Emsari then repeated the swabbing and wringing several times. All the while, her other hand was combing carefully through his hair around his injury.

She finally gave a satisfied grunt. "Well, thank the Goddess for small favors. At least you don't have a cracked skull." Before he could reply, he felt her hand splay over the top of his head. She began chanting in an unfamiliar tongue that seemed to consist of low hisses and clicks.

With some relief, he felt the throbbing pain in his head diminish and then vanish altogether. He licked his lips again. "Wow. That feels so much better. I have to thank you for your consideration, madam...I mean, Emsari. But I've taken up far too much of your time, so I'll just be on my way..."

He began to rise, but his movement was stopped by a muscular arm that hugged him tight to her chest. Through his shirt, he felt the hard tips of her nipples poke into his back while her breath caressed his ear. Emsari's breath was surprisingly sweet. Tibor figured that eating someone as rank-smelling as Vilmos would have at least given her some malodorous breath.

"You are not leaving here," she breathed into his ear.

His heart hammered in his chest. This had all been a cruel trick, he was going to die horribly in the next few minutes...

Emsari's breath shifted to his other ear. "Relax, my little thief."

The implicit accusation made him angry. "I'm not a thief!"

"Oh?" Her voice was rich with amusement. "So you merely came into my lair to expand the knowledge of your fellow humans?"

He sagged defeatedly in her one-armed embrace. "Not exactly. I was misled. I thought this was a First Empire ruin. There are many who would want to know its location."

"And they would pay you well for such information, yes?"

He let his head drop forward. Natalia would be so angry with him right now. "Yes."

There was a gentle caress of his head. "Good. At least you are aware of your own shortcomings. Now, as I was going to say, the reason that you are not leaving here is because you have just suffered a severe trauma to the brain. I have healed the external damage, but these types of injuries are subtle. There may be bleeding inside the brain or other issues that I can't detect right now." Her other arm went around him, adding to the hug. "There's no way I could let you go stumbling off through the woods in your current state. What kind of a host would that make me?"

"Host?" he squeaked.

"Of course. You arrived with no ill intentions towards me or my property. And you took positive action to protect my hoard. My people's customs say that I am honor-bound to allow you three days as my guest." There was the faintest feather-touch of something wet on his ear, and he realized it was Emsari's tongue. "Although hosting one as handsome as you is no great hardship."

Tibor cleared his throat. Aside from his loyalty to Natalia's memory, any flirting from this dragon was something he wanted to quickly head off, lest he wind up screwed to death like Vilmos. Speaking of which...

"Um, not to be rude," he stammered. "But I have to ask. What happened to Vilmos?"

"Your associate? I apologize for the impression that must have made. You must understand, I was just waking up from a long slumber and had no idea who you two were. You might have been scouts for an entire army. I had to replenish myself in case it was a major attack."

Tibor tried to interpret her meaning of 'replenish'. There were hints that draconic magic was fueled by spirit energy of one kind or another. Sexual energy was as likely a fuel source as any. "I...understand. Certainly. Um, how did you figure out that we weren't part of an army?"

"I confirmed it after I smelled you in the tunnel. The only other human scent on you is from that scarred idiot I just raped."

Her matter-of-fact declaration gave him pause, in spite of the comforting embrace of her arms. Tibor chose his next words carefully. "You needed energy, I get that. And I have no love lost for the bastard. But wasn't what you did to him a little...much?"

"He drew blood in my house!" snarled Emsari. "I will not allow such behavior to go unpunished. He got off lucky. If he had killed you, I would have milked him until he was a withered husssk." Her voice slipped a little on the last word, regaining some of the sibilance he'd first heard.

The implication of what she said oddly made him feel a little better. "So Vilmos isn't dead?"

She laid her snout gently on top of his scalp, and then snorted. "No. Right now he might wish he was, but no. Don't fret about him, my dear, we'll deal with him later." She released him. "Can you stand?" she asked.

He tried, and found that his legs were much more steady than before. "Yes, that's much better," he said as he turned to face the dragon. Emsari's face was more composed than before, although her red eyes still burned with a fire that he hoped was not lustful.

"You need some sleep," she mused. "It's the best thing for you right now. And I need to sleep beside you in case any problems arise from your injury. But..." She leaned forward and sniffed lightly at the crook of his neck. "If you're going to share my bed, you need to bathe."

He sketched a little bow. "I apologize, madam...Emsari. I've been tramping through the woods for the past week with only a smelly mercenary for company."

She gave a sibilant chuckle, then gestured at his clothing. "Then take all of that off. Now."

He hesitated, unsure if this was the prelude to her pouncing on him. Emsari moved closer and put a hand under his chin, then tilted his head back to meet her eyes.

"You are my guest," she said more formally. "I will not force myself upon you. It would be dishonorable of me. Not to mention that you shouldn't be doing anything strenuous like having sex. Not with that head injury." In spite of her formal and soft tone, her other hand was already busy undressing him. His boots were unlaced along with his breeches. Almost without thinking, he raised one foot and then the other as his boots were pulled off, followed by his breeches. Her hands tugged up his shirt, and he obligingly raised his arms to let her strip it off. It was all happening so fast that he never had time to wonder if he really should be getting naked in this creature's presence.

He now stood before the dragon clad only in a loincloth. Her eyes flickered over him, making him feel like a side of beef being appraised by a discriminating gourmet. Tibor wasn't a muscle-bound mercenary like Vilmos, but he had done a lot of traveling by foot lately and he had a lean, well-proportioned body. There was a large white scar that stood out against his brown skin. The scar traveled for a good three inches along one side of his stomach. Emsari reached out with a clawed finger and traced the scar gently, making his stomach jump a little. She gave an intrigued little hum. "I see that you have survived much."

Then she looked up at Natalia's oval locket, which lay against his bare chest. Emsari looked closer at the little golden keepsake. "What is that? You should take that off too."

Tibor shook his head. "This doesn't come off."

Before he could blink, her tail whipped around from behind her and pinned his arms to his sides. Tibor struggled, but her grip was like iron. Very gently, one of her hands went under the locket's chain and lifted it off of his head. "I just want to make sure it doesn't get water inside it," she said while Tibor fumed silently. She held it in one scaled hand and regarded it, then looked up at his set and angry face.

She gave him a little smile. "Don't worry, you will get it back. After you bathe." She set the locket down on the pile of his clothing. Tibor's brief anger ebbed. One clawed finger then gently poked at his loincloth. "You can take that off yourself. I wouldn't want to be seen as too forward, after all."

Her tail released him, and Tibor looked up at that steady red gaze. He decided that now was not the time to worry about decorum and began unlacing his loincloth. As he set the loincloth aside, he could swear he saw the wyrm's eyes dilate a little. He turned away from Emsari and tried to ignore her as he walked off towards the lake. The bottom sloped away sharply from the edge, and he quickly waded in to get used to the water's temperature.

To his surprise, it was not cold like he expected. It was actually quite warm. The lake must be heated by some underground volcanic spring. As he waded out, he immersed himself quickly to shield his groin from Emsari's sight. He began rubbing his limbs, and felt immediately better as the grime of the road fell away from him.

There was a sibilant chuckle from behind him, followed by a splash. He stared in amazement as the dragon's sinuous form flowed past him through the water. Emsari might be a little clumsy walking on her hind legs, but in the air or in the water she was in her element. She circled once around him and then surfaced with a great heave in front of his face. One of her hands emerged from the water and held a pumice stone towards him.

"Scrub well, and wash your head too," she said with an evil smile. "If you don't get yourself clean enough I will have to dunk you." He felt a feather touch around one of his ankles, and looked down to see her tail-tip wrapped around it.

He shrugged and applied the stone to himself, getting even more of the accumulated dirt off. His hands, especially, took a while. Then he drew in a deep breath and submerged himself. With their current respective positions, that meant that he was staring right at Emsari's bosom. He tried to look away, but it was almost hypnotic how her breasts drew his gaze. Yes, they belonged to a dragon, but they were still breasts. They were covered with the same fine yellow scales as her belly and had light green nipples that stood proudly in the center. As he stared, her hands came into view and pushed up at her bosom with her palms as if she was offering herself to him.

Tibor jerked his head above the water with a gasp. Emsari's red eyes glittered with humor. "Why, you naughty boy," she said. Her tail wound further up his leg and past his knee.

He was pretty sure that she liked him ogling her, but he figured he'd play the gentleman. "I apologize, Emsari, I should not have taken liberties and gazed upon your person like that."

"Well I'll be damned. A young man who can't keep his eyes off of a set of tits? How...unusual." Her hand reached out and brushed against his cheek. The portion of her tail wrapped around his thigh squeezed gently, making him gasp a little.

He had to head this off before she went any further. "Emsari, it's not that I don't appreciate your hospitality, but..." But my heart still belongs to Natalia, was his un-said second sentence.

The wyrm pressed a finger to his lips. "When I said you were sharing my bed, I meant sleep only. I was serious about you needing to not strain yourself...at least until we know your head is all right." She moved closer to him in the water. "I just can't help myself when it comes to teasing you, dear. You're too cute." A long pink tongue the size of his forearm slithered out of her mouth and licked his forehead. "And you seem to have gotten enough of the road-stink off of you. Now come along."

Her tone was somewhere between a request and a command. She swam quickly back to the ledge and used her arms to lever her bulk out of the water with ease. He splashed out of the lake behind her. The wyrm turned and gestured him nearer. As he stood next to her, she gave another guttural chant. A warm wind from nowhere played around them, and within less than a minute the two of them were dry.

Tibor quickly put Natalia's locket back on. He felt better having it against his skin. As he reached for the rest of his clothes, however, the wyrm put a hand over the pile. "No, I prefer you like you are."

He tried not to feel nervous as he looked up at her. "I see. I thought there was going to be no bed-play."

Emsari gave a loud laugh, and her tail swished around behind him. It quickly wrapped itself up along his legs and pinned his arms to his sides. He stared up with a tingle of fear as she brought her head closer. She gripped his head gently and pressed her lips against his forehead in a scaly kiss.

"I find that humans are more cuddly when there's no clothes to get in the way," she said with a wink. Then she turned and padded back out into her bedchamber with Tibor held high and still wrapped up in her tail.

With great ceremony, he was placed into the cushioned center of her nest. As her tail released him, he had time for one breath before she wriggled into the nest and hugged her to him. Her tail wound up from his feet to his waist, encasing him in smooth scales. Her skin was softer and smoother than he'd expected. She rested his head on her bosom, put one arm around his shoulder, and the other over the small of his back. The wyrm gave a contented rumble. "I forgot how warm and soft your kind are. Are you comfortable?"

Tibor was about to make some snide comment about feeling like her next meal. But then he realized that yes, he did feel comfortable. It was quite odd. Even though he was in the embrace of a monster that he'd just seen rape a man, he didn't feel fear. And even though he felt her body touching all along his naked skin and his head was pillowed on her breasts, it didn't feel erotic. Instead, he felt protected and safe for the first time in a very long time. "It feels wonderful," he said. His arms went instinctively around her torso as his eyes grew heavy.

Emsari stroked his head. "Then sleep well, my little thief. You have a big decision tomorrow."

"'M not a thief," he mumbled, but his eyes closed before he could say anything further.

__________________________________________________________

When Tibor woke he still felt that odd but welcome sense of safety. Emsari's eyes were closed and she was breathing slowly and regularly. He felt her chest rise and fall under his head, and for a moment he just reveled in the feeling of protection. He looked up at his host's peacefully sleeping face. For a dragon, Emsari was what his father would have called a 'very handsome woman'. That is, if you ignored the scales. And the crest. And the fangs.

Emsari murmured something in her own tongue, and her tail grew fractionally tighter around him in an instinctual sleeping hug. Tibor then realized with something like horror that a certain part of his anatomy had gotten up before him. He could almost feel the heartbeat in his erect prick as it lay trapped between her scales and his belly. The slight movement of her smooth scales against his most sensitive flesh made him bite his lip. If she woke up with him in this state, she would almost certainly pin him to the ground and ravish him. Or perhaps she'd take offense at his presumption and eat him.

He tried to think of something completely and utterly un-erotic. Runes should be a good subject, that was nice and dry. He recalled his classes and ran through in his head the various classes of runes. There were those that emitted energy and those that absorbed energy. Energy of all kinds; fire, motion, mental intent. The last type of runes were particularly subtle. Tibor could remember the intricate loops and whorls required to get the runic scripts to work. Firm inked lines penetrating loops, spearing deep into their tender moist innards...

Shit. That wasn't working. Think about potions, then. Yes, that was it. Good old potions, tedious but very satisfying when you got it all to work. Mixing the powders, setting things to a gentle boil. Then adding the various required tinctures into the boiling solution. Sweet-smelling juice, dripping into the throbbing, roiling surface of the water...

Shiiiit.

He would have tried another tactic, but then the part of her tail right over his groin tightened further. Its scales slid a little back and forth, and he bit his lip harder to keep from moaning as it rubbed against his aching prick. Then he heard Emsari give an earthy chuckle.

"I see that you are very happy to be in my embrace," she said.

"Um, yes, please don't be offended, it's just an automatic reaction, happens all the time when human males wake up. Not that don't find you attractive, I don't mean to offend you that way either, you understand, but..."

He felt her lips kiss his head. "Hush, dear. I know all about it. You're definitely not the first man to share my bed." Her arms and coiled tail squeezed him tightly in a brief but intense hug. Then she loosened her tail and released him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Tibor ignored his still-erect cock as he sat up. "I feel quite well, actually." His stomach took that opportunity to give a grumble, and he looked down at it reprovingly as Emsari laughed.

She allowed him to get dressed before breakfast. The wyrm had stored some provisions before taking her long sleep. Some of those rations were unremarkable, and consisted of cured meats and hearty bread. The food did seem to be in remarkably good condition for being over thirty years old, and Tibor suspected some kind of draconic preservation magic was at work. That was confirmed when Emsari produced her own meal, which was the whole hind leg and shank of a large boar. It was uncooked, of course, and looked like it had been butchered yesterday.